Rocktober Adventures part 1
So yesterday morning my family and I drove down to Virginia Beach for various activities, one of which was attending the Field of Screams at Hunts Club Farm. It was just as amazing as last year. All three attractions returned this year; Field of Screams, Haunted Hayride, and Village of the Dead...which I kept calling Village of the Damned. I feel that either one works fine, considering the content of the attraction. Ok, rundown time!
Starting with the Field of Screams.We did this one first. It really is a field...of corn. You can't see where you're going, can't see around curves and corners and the scare actors seem to come out of nowhere. It was awesome! Most of it is set in the corn field, but there are sections that are worse; the are inclosed and you can't see a damned thing in front of your nose because it's so dark. Pitch black. One of these is a giant metal container with a maze in it, and you have to feel your way around. Don't worry though, there aren't any actors inside...they're all outside banging away on the sides and making a general raucous around you for effect. The other of these is like a giant air tubey thing with inflatable walls on either side of a tunnel. Can't see anything, and you have to feel your way through. Honestly, that part wasn't so bad, it's whats waiting for you on the other side that makes you jump. The actors will hide just beyond the edges of the tube tunnel and when you come out the other side, all disoriented and such, that's when they grab at you. Or poke you, or steal loose articles.
Oh, I didn't mention that they could touch you? They can, and I don't think I've cackled so hard in all my life. Seriously, I don't think I've ever needed my inhaler so many times in such a short span of time.
One of the other attractions there was The Village of the Dead. This one is practically all actors, and they're good at what they do let me tell you! This one has zombie like ghosts, punished to live forever for the kind of life they lead. Or something like that, it was all rather entertaining. I don't remember all of the different kinds of ghosties, but there are a few that stuck out in my mind. First was the butcher, who I think murdered his mother because she wouldn't sing him his favorite song: Heads, shoulders, knees, and toes, knees and toes. He was pretty cool, very large and very tall, a nice intimidation factor. There was the people with the guillotine and the silly lady lost her head...literally. That was pretty awesome. Uhh, there were of course the animalids running around, popping out of everywhere, and the faceless people in black. Another one of those tube things...oh right. And the spinning tunnel. I always try to keep my balance in those things, but try as I might, I always end up starting to fall over. And, of course, the actors take advantage of your vertigo. But it's all in good fun.
Now this comes to my favorite part: the Haunted Hayride. It's exactly as it sounds, you're sitting on a big platform fully of hay bales and being towed by a tractor. Fun stuff. What made this so much better in my opinion were the three teenage girls that were sitting on my right. Holy shit I thought I was going to die from suffocation I was laughing so hard. Every little bump and every actor that came their way they would scream their little heads off. But it wasn't just that ,oh no. They would double over themselves. Curled up in fetal-like positions! At one point I think one of them was curled up under my legs. I really did think I was going to die of laughter, it was so bad. It was the best when the actors would jump up on the side of the cart thingy and hover over unsuspecting riders. One guy even jumped over people in the cart and terrorized everyone. It was great! Strobe lights cause awesome stunning affects to disorient and confuse. And if it wasn't the actors with the hatches, large hammer type things, or the chainsaws, it was the sneaky ninja actors that would come by and flick at your hair, pull on your clothing, even tickle you into submission. Absolutely amazing. I really should have thanked those three girls for making my experience unforgettable. But hey, I was breathless.
So that was awesome fun...coming home, that's a different story. We left at a good time in the morning today, should have been smooth sailing. Four, count em, four different backups just from Virginia Beach to Woodbridge. Took somewhere in the vicinity of five hours to get home. Should have taken only three or less at the hour we left. But no, traffic decided to screw us once again. No more traveling on Saturdays on those particular roads...EVER. But hey, at least I had my laptop to keep me occupied.
Had to pick myself up a new battery for my car, which was a lot more of a pain that expected. At least I got a better deal than I was expecting. Also a kind of funny story that goes along with that. Now, apparently the battery for my car is really weird and unnaturally heavy. Somewhere in the 50-60 pound range if I were to guess. Popped the thing into the hybrid and drove over to Advanced Auto off rolling road. To me, the battery didn't seem overly heavy, so I sauntered into the store and plopped it onto the checkout desk...and the cashier guy who waved me over had some difficulty moving the thing. He made the comment that I was doin' some heavy lifting that day. And silly me, hadn't even noticed that it was that heavy to begin with, brushed it off as being nothing at all. But he was very nice and even insisted on carrying my new battery to the car. 'You've done enough heavy lifting for today, I can get this for you'.
And everything was going great until after dinner tonight. We had taken my grandmother out to dinner for her birthday, and since it was a Mexican place, my parents got drinks, leaving me to drive home. This wouldn't normally be so bad, I'm used to driving my parents home after they've been drinking. No big deal to me, I don't mind driving around. But it was probably one of the most stressful rides home in a long, long time. For whatever ungodly reason, my parents decided to have a debate (argument) about politics. I don't want to hear it. I made it perfectly clear several times that I didn't want to hear it, because it was distracting, not to mention upsetting. Anyone who knows me knows that I care not for government or politics, much less want to talk about it. Even after screaming at them to shut the hell up (not quite that blunt, but they seemed to get the point) the silence didn't last. It didn't seem to sink in until I pulled the car over and told to get out and walk home because I didn't want to hear this bullshit anymore. My car. I'm driving. If you can't act civilly, shut the fu*k up, get the fu*k out of my god damned car.
Granted we were only a block or two away from home, I'd had enough. I ended up driving them both home, only after they promised to be silent for the rest of the ride.
So now I'm here, trying to destress and get a little homework done. I don't want to deal with anyone at the moment, I don't want to be around anyone...sadly it seems like I'm not going to get the peace that I currently crave, and I needed to rant about it a little. Sorry about that. But when stuff like this happens, it always seems like I'm the one who ends up with the migraine at the end of the day, and no one else does.
Hopefully, tomorrow will be better. We're going to the state fair, and I'm hoping it will be pleasant enough to ebb the stress away, even just a little bit. I'll try and post something about that in the next few days after we get back.
Starting with the Field of Screams.We did this one first. It really is a field...of corn. You can't see where you're going, can't see around curves and corners and the scare actors seem to come out of nowhere. It was awesome! Most of it is set in the corn field, but there are sections that are worse; the are inclosed and you can't see a damned thing in front of your nose because it's so dark. Pitch black. One of these is a giant metal container with a maze in it, and you have to feel your way around. Don't worry though, there aren't any actors inside...they're all outside banging away on the sides and making a general raucous around you for effect. The other of these is like a giant air tubey thing with inflatable walls on either side of a tunnel. Can't see anything, and you have to feel your way through. Honestly, that part wasn't so bad, it's whats waiting for you on the other side that makes you jump. The actors will hide just beyond the edges of the tube tunnel and when you come out the other side, all disoriented and such, that's when they grab at you. Or poke you, or steal loose articles.
Oh, I didn't mention that they could touch you? They can, and I don't think I've cackled so hard in all my life. Seriously, I don't think I've ever needed my inhaler so many times in such a short span of time.
One of the other attractions there was The Village of the Dead. This one is practically all actors, and they're good at what they do let me tell you! This one has zombie like ghosts, punished to live forever for the kind of life they lead. Or something like that, it was all rather entertaining. I don't remember all of the different kinds of ghosties, but there are a few that stuck out in my mind. First was the butcher, who I think murdered his mother because she wouldn't sing him his favorite song: Heads, shoulders, knees, and toes, knees and toes. He was pretty cool, very large and very tall, a nice intimidation factor. There was the people with the guillotine and the silly lady lost her head...literally. That was pretty awesome. Uhh, there were of course the animalids running around, popping out of everywhere, and the faceless people in black. Another one of those tube things...oh right. And the spinning tunnel. I always try to keep my balance in those things, but try as I might, I always end up starting to fall over. And, of course, the actors take advantage of your vertigo. But it's all in good fun.
Now this comes to my favorite part: the Haunted Hayride. It's exactly as it sounds, you're sitting on a big platform fully of hay bales and being towed by a tractor. Fun stuff. What made this so much better in my opinion were the three teenage girls that were sitting on my right. Holy shit I thought I was going to die from suffocation I was laughing so hard. Every little bump and every actor that came their way they would scream their little heads off. But it wasn't just that ,oh no. They would double over themselves. Curled up in fetal-like positions! At one point I think one of them was curled up under my legs. I really did think I was going to die of laughter, it was so bad. It was the best when the actors would jump up on the side of the cart thingy and hover over unsuspecting riders. One guy even jumped over people in the cart and terrorized everyone. It was great! Strobe lights cause awesome stunning affects to disorient and confuse. And if it wasn't the actors with the hatches, large hammer type things, or the chainsaws, it was the sneaky ninja actors that would come by and flick at your hair, pull on your clothing, even tickle you into submission. Absolutely amazing. I really should have thanked those three girls for making my experience unforgettable. But hey, I was breathless.
So that was awesome fun...coming home, that's a different story. We left at a good time in the morning today, should have been smooth sailing. Four, count em, four different backups just from Virginia Beach to Woodbridge. Took somewhere in the vicinity of five hours to get home. Should have taken only three or less at the hour we left. But no, traffic decided to screw us once again. No more traveling on Saturdays on those particular roads...EVER. But hey, at least I had my laptop to keep me occupied.
Had to pick myself up a new battery for my car, which was a lot more of a pain that expected. At least I got a better deal than I was expecting. Also a kind of funny story that goes along with that. Now, apparently the battery for my car is really weird and unnaturally heavy. Somewhere in the 50-60 pound range if I were to guess. Popped the thing into the hybrid and drove over to Advanced Auto off rolling road. To me, the battery didn't seem overly heavy, so I sauntered into the store and plopped it onto the checkout desk...and the cashier guy who waved me over had some difficulty moving the thing. He made the comment that I was doin' some heavy lifting that day. And silly me, hadn't even noticed that it was that heavy to begin with, brushed it off as being nothing at all. But he was very nice and even insisted on carrying my new battery to the car. 'You've done enough heavy lifting for today, I can get this for you'.
And everything was going great until after dinner tonight. We had taken my grandmother out to dinner for her birthday, and since it was a Mexican place, my parents got drinks, leaving me to drive home. This wouldn't normally be so bad, I'm used to driving my parents home after they've been drinking. No big deal to me, I don't mind driving around. But it was probably one of the most stressful rides home in a long, long time. For whatever ungodly reason, my parents decided to have a debate (argument) about politics. I don't want to hear it. I made it perfectly clear several times that I didn't want to hear it, because it was distracting, not to mention upsetting. Anyone who knows me knows that I care not for government or politics, much less want to talk about it. Even after screaming at them to shut the hell up (not quite that blunt, but they seemed to get the point) the silence didn't last. It didn't seem to sink in until I pulled the car over and told to get out and walk home because I didn't want to hear this bullshit anymore. My car. I'm driving. If you can't act civilly, shut the fu*k up, get the fu*k out of my god damned car.
Granted we were only a block or two away from home, I'd had enough. I ended up driving them both home, only after they promised to be silent for the rest of the ride.
So now I'm here, trying to destress and get a little homework done. I don't want to deal with anyone at the moment, I don't want to be around anyone...sadly it seems like I'm not going to get the peace that I currently crave, and I needed to rant about it a little. Sorry about that. But when stuff like this happens, it always seems like I'm the one who ends up with the migraine at the end of the day, and no one else does.
Hopefully, tomorrow will be better. We're going to the state fair, and I'm hoping it will be pleasant enough to ebb the stress away, even just a little bit. I'll try and post something about that in the next few days after we get back.